"Hamas kidnapped a soldier (Gilad Shalit) and managed to keep him for five years - that's a good thing." [Official PA TV, Oct. 24, 2011]

Rajoub representing Abbas in 2011:

"We salute those who dug the tunnel

[to kidnap Gilad Shalit]; we salute those

who captured the captive (Gilad Shalit),

and salute those who guarded the captive until this deal was completed."

[Official PA TV, Oct. 30, 2011]

Rajoub in 2014:

"If Hamas wants to kidnap soldiers...

we encourage them. When they kidnapped Shalit we congratulated them."

[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2014]

Abbas in 2009:

"We have 11,000 prisoners. We will definitely, always and forever, act to free them using all means."

[Official, PA TV, Oct. 6, 2009]

Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) in 2014:

"The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers...

will continue."[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2014]

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Two days ago, three Israeli youths were kidnapped by a terror organization when they were catching a ride. At the moment of writing, the boys have still not been found.

Despite the Palestinian Authority's alleged commitment to distance itself from terror, the PA continues to glorify terrorism and promote kidnapping Israelis as hostages.Palestinian Media Watchhas documented the PA leadership's support for kidnapping Israelis expressed as recently as January 2014. The following are some examples:

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas, following the release of over 1,000 terrorist prisoners in 2011 in exchange for Hamas' hostage Gilad Shalit, called the kidnapping a "good thing":

"Hamas kidnapped a soldier, or captured a soldier, and managed to keep him for five years - that's a good thing, we don't deny it. On the contrary, it's good. Because in that small strip of 40 x 7 km [Gaza], they managed to guard him and hide him - that's a good thing."

Two years earlier, after Israel released 20 female terrorists in exchange for information about Shalit, Abbas stated that PA policy was to free prisoners using "all means":

Interviewer: "The occupation [Israel] released 20 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a video confirming that [Israeli hostage] Gilad Shalit is alive. What do you think about this?" Abbas: "I see it from only one perspective - 20 female Palestinian prisoners have left prison. The price may be high or low, that is not the issue. The issue is that some prisoners have left prison, which gives hope to many others. We have 11,000 prisoners. We will definitely, always and forever, act to free them using all means."

Senior PA official and Deputy-Secretary of Fatah's Central Committee Jibril Rajoub said in January 2014 that the Palestinian Authority encourages Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers and hold them hostage in order to exchange them for the release of Palestinian prisoners:

"If Hamas wants to kidnap soldiers, let them kidnap soldiers. Let them kidnap. Let them kidnap if they [the Israelis] don't want to release prisoners, but want them as prisoners forever, so [the prisoners] will come out as ghosts and skeletons. The Israelis need to understand. It's clear that kidnapping is the language they understand. On the contrary, we encourage them [Hamas]. When they kidnapped [Gilad] Shalit, we congratulated them. When they concluded the Shalit [exchange] deal, in spite of our having a few reservations about it, we also congratulated them."

"I say in the name of the Fatah movement -- we salute those who dug the tunnel [to kidnap Gilad Shalit]; we salute those who captured the captive (Gilad Shalit), and salute those who guarded the captive until this deal was completed.[applause]" [Official PA TV, Oct. 30, 2011]

A few weeks before the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement in May 2014, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh announced the coming "implementation of the reconciliation" and thenconfirmed Hamas kidnap-for-hostage policy:

"The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers is part of the agenda of the Palestinian resistance and of the Hamas movement, and will continue as long as there are Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli prisons."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2014]

Israel holds about 5,000 Palestinian terrorists in prison, hundreds of them serving life sentences for murder. The PA sees all Palestinian prisoners as heroes, even murderers of Israeli civilians. PA TV publicly criticized PMW for referring to terrorists serving 67 and 54 life sentencesas "terrorists", declaring they were "heroes." The PA sees kidnapping of Israelis as a legitimate strategy to release these terrorists.